You Don't Have To Be Alone
by Ryuuette
Summary: Ichigo and Ishida had a fight one week ago though they had been together nearly a year  since Christmas after the fight with the Arrancar. Will they stay apart or will fate play it's hand? Holiday song fic. IshiIchi. Shounenai. Some depression. Some OOC.


Okay, so this story is going to be placed a year after the Arrancar arc. I don't know what happens, I don't really think anyone knows what happens in Hueco Mundo as far as the anime goes. Anyway, this is an Ishida x Ichigo story, as well as one that's written to a song. For those who don't know what the song is, just look at the title. Yes, I know it's an 'NSync song, but I used to be a huge fan of theirs and I still listen to their music on occasion. Also, this is a Christmas story. I know it's a little early - a day before Thanksgiving for those in the United States - but it just was begging to be written for the holiday that a little over a month away. (Gah, is it really that soon? Yikes!)

Disclaimers: angst, shounen ai, ill emotion toward self

Constructive criticism welcomed. Flames shall be treated with extreme care and explanation. Please read and review.

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**You Don't Have To Be Alone**

Kurosaki Ichigo looked at his hands. They were red and chapped from the chilled December air. He hadn't brought his gloves as he hadn't thought it would be this cold. His arms wrapped around himself as he gazed up toward the apartment window. He knew whose it was, and it didn't hurt any worse.

Ishida Uryuu and him had been together for nearly year now. It had been at Christmas the year before they had finally gotten together. Though they were supposed to be enemies, they had never truly felt that way toward each other. No, each had held admiration for the other and the admiration turned to affection.

It had been the battle to stop Aizen where it had happened. They had been put together to fight the former second taichou and it hadn't been going well. The shinigami representative had been knocked back and unconscious with a severe wound to the head. The Quincy had gone to his aid, helping as he could for the wound. The hybrid had soon woken up, albeit somewhat drozy. With the assistance of the archer, he sent Tensa Zangetsu into the chest of the former 10th Division taichou. Into the chest and straight through the heart.

Soon after, Ichigo had fallen into a comatose state in the other teen's arms. All present - Espada, taichous, fukutaichous, menos grande, their friends, and all others around - fell silent as Uryuu had lifted the carrot top. Gingerly, he had carried him to where the doorway of the King would open and knelt down before it. Laying the shinigami on the ground, the Ishida heir prayed to any entity that could hear him to bring back the one person he cared for more in the world at the moment.

A week later, in the Quincy's apartment, Ichigo had awakened. The four true shinigami present - Rukia, Renji, Kisuke and Yuroichi - were elated at this new note that brought happiness to their lives. However none were more ecstatic than Uryuu. It was that night - Christmas Eve night - that they shared their first kiss with each other.

Now it was a nearly a year later. The week before the two of them had an argument. And one sentence came from the Ishida heir that had hurt the shinigami representative.

"I don't want even want to _see_ you."

Now the carrot top was looking up toward the other's window. He could see the figure which he knew was his lost love. The one person who could actually make his world beautiful after what had happened so long ago. To be able to do that was something of an art and Uryuu had done it within moments.

And yet as quickly as the piece of art had been created, it was destroyed. By the creator none the less. Beauty, love and peace torn to shreds by the master creator. In its place now was nothing more than emptiness and loss within the heart of Ichigo. There was nothing that could describe how the teen felt at this disruption in his chest.

Feeling alone, Ichigo started to make his way back his family's quiet home. He drug his feet along the sidewalk. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He didn't even notice that snow had started to fall from the overcast sky above him.

From inside the apartment, Ishida had watched Ichigo. He had to admit that it was hard to watch other walk away. He had seen the pain on the teen's face, knowing what it meant and where it was coming from. It wasn't easy to know, but it was true.

The Quincy looked over toward his nightstand beside the bed. Near the lamp was a 12.7 cm x 17.78 cm frame. In the frame was a photo of the Shinigami and himself. They were facing away from the camera, but their forms seemed perfectly relaxed. The two were gazing into a beautiful sunrise of crimsons, sienna and ambers. Their arms were wrapped around each other and their fingers were intertwined as they sat there.

His heart ached as he stared at the photo of such beauty and hope. He knew what he had done. He had crushed Ichigo's dreams and torn his heart in two. All of it had happened because of his damned pride, both Quincy and not. It had taken over and caused hell to take over, ruling over his mind and making him say the one sentence he hadn't wanted to say. Now his arms were empty, no one to hold in them.

Going over to his dresser, he picked up his cell phone. He knew that the carrot top had left him messages. However he wasn't sure how many though. Carrying it over to his bed, he curled his knees to his chest and went to his voice mail, listening to each message that was left.

"H-Hey Uryuu… I-It's me, Ichigo…"

ISICISICISICISICISICISICISIC

Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yuroichi leaned against the counter of the Kurosaki kitchen. With Isshin having taken Yuzu and Karin away for a trip, the father had invited the two former taichous to keep his son company until they returned. It had been a week and a half since they had left, so the ex-shinigami didn't know about what had happened between the two teens.

"He's been out a while now," the goddess of flash spoke calmly, "Do you think he's okay?"

"Yuroichi," the shop keeper replied quietly, "you know how he's been since his and Ishida's fight. He's been walking past the boy's place in hopes to just _see_ him. The boy's been losing sleep and growing more and more listless. The toll has shown itself on everyone, including us."

The young-looking woman gazed down at the ground in front of the man's feet. The blonde moved toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her to his chest. A deep sigh left both their lips as they just stood there.

Urahara soon looked up as he heard the front door open. He went to see who it was, only to find that is was a snow-covered Ichigo. He blinked quietly before going to help the boy out of his now soaked jacket. It was then that he noticed that there were tear streaks on the teen's cheeks.

"Yuroichi, the fire is going yes?"

"Yes," came the answer, "Why do you ask?"

"Come here," Kisuke answered, keeping close for the boy's warmth.

The former 2nd Division taichou came from the kitchen into the living area. She saw the state the shinigami representative was in. He was a cold, shivering, broken mess as he stood before her. A mental growl echoed through her mind as she helped the shop keeper take the carrot top into the den-like area, placing him near the fire.

"Ichigo, is everything okay?" she asked quietly.

There was only silence as her answer. This worried the former taichou. To see a student of hers go from boisterous and annoying to quiet and self-contained in a week was unheard of, as well as terrifying. Now here was Ichigo having done this and she was not only terrified, but she was afraid for his health.

"Kurosaki?" Urahara whispered, worry in his voice.

"… Saw him…"

All fell quiet. That's why he was how he was. He had seen the one he loved but couldn't touch. It was killing him more than an Espada, Grand Fisher, and his inner hollow at bankai level combined.

Kisuke and Yuroichi quietly reclined Ichigo on the couch nearest the fireplace. They left the room quietly, hugging each other as soon as they were out of sight of the ailing teen. The darkly-skinned female gripped at her love's kimono top.

"We have to talk to Ishida," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Kisuke agreed, "He broke Kurosaki. He needs to have a talking to."

Quietly, the former taichous left the Kurosaki household. They didn't want the shinigami representative to follow them in case of what could happen. They had never seen Ichigo so out of place and it needed to be dealt with accordingly.

Meanwhile, the person in question was still laying on the couch, a yet unknown set of eyes watching him. He silently sobbed, tears staining his cheeks even more and falling to the cushions of the couch. The chill of the air around him caused the carrot top to curl up tightly into a ball. Eventually he fell asleep, curled up and closed eyes filled with tears yet to leave the auburn gaze.

A pair of shiny coal eyes stared at the teen as their owner revealed itself to the room. Kon walked over to the boy, a frown on his stuffed animal face. The spirit mod understood how the boy felt and wanted to help as he could.

Quietly, the stuffed lion took a nearby blanket - which just happened to be one that Uryuu had made - and placed it over the shivering shinigami. He sighed as he watched the teen relax slightly, but a stray tear rolled down his cheek.

"Uryuu…" left the pallid lips.

If he had the ability to feel it, Kon's heart would have clenched at the pain in the voice. It wasn't fair that his charge had to hurt at the hands of a Quincy. He was a shinigami after all - power excelling that of a taichou with choice of combining his own with that of his hollow side, if only for a little while. For him to be brought down by the likes of the clan of an archer was uncalled for.

"Ishida, you had better apologize to Ichigo soon," the soul mod demanded to the silence as he stared out into to the snowy evening sky, "If you don't you're going to find that you have more than just your usual problems."

ISICISICISICISICISICISICISIC

Christmas music played throughout the streets of the city. Ishida had figured that he would take a walk. He needed to clear his mind before he even tried to go talk to Ichigo at all. It would be rough for him, but he wasn't sure how much so. He knew that not even just a present could repair the damage that he had done.

He made his way downtown as it snowed. He bundled his ivory trench coat closer to himself, crossing his arms to keep him warmer. However much he bundled up though, the Quincy couldn't overcome the coldness within himself for what he had done the week before.

Glancing across the street, the archer noticed two of Ichigo and his friends - Sado and Inoue. The two had started dating shortly after he and the shinigami had gotten together. And yet for some reason, his eyes played tricks on him. He didn't see the young couple, but did see himself and his lost love.

"Ichigo…"

"Ishida Uryuu, a word please," a familiar voice entered the young man's ears. Looking up, he saw Kisuke and Yuroichi just yards before him.

"U-Urahara. Y-Yuroichi."

"Ishida, I don't care what happened," the shop keeper spoke, "You need to be with Ichigo. He's broken because of what happened. He's been broken since your argument."

Uryuu felt his heart sink behind his ribcage. How did this happen? How could he let this happen?

"It's killing him."

The Quincy froze. It was what? It was doing what to the shinigami.

"Oh god," he whispered, "I… I have to…"

"What are you going to do, Quincy?" Urahara almost snapped.

"I'm going to do what I should have done a week ago."

Uryuu ran as fast as he could without flash-stepping to the Kurosaki residence. He had to get the teen before he did something drastic. He couldn't stand it if he did something like that.

Upon reaching the house, Ishida noticed that there was an orange glow that was being emitted from deep within. Hesitant steps were taken toward the door of the building before he stood before it. He swallowed heavily as a shaky hand reached up to knock before it opened. The archer looked down to see the soul mod standing there, glaring at him.

"He's in the den," Kon uttered, "You know how to get there."

As soon as the soul mod left the doorway, Uryuu made his way to the room he had been told. He slowly entered the room, seeing the young man laying on the couch in front of the fireplace. Tiptoeing over to him, the Ishida heir knelt before his sleeping lost love. A gentle hand was placed on the tearstained cheek.

"Ichigo, I am so sorry."

The carrot top in question stirred slightly, opening his eyes. Tired auburn met navy blue before Ichigo moved away from Ishida. His eyes showed that of pure fear.

"I-Ishida! I… I'm sorry-"

"Kurosaki."

"- Whatever I did today-"

"Kurosaki?"

"- or this past week, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean -"

The Quincy placed two fingers on the shinigami's lips. A genuine smile graced his lips for the first time in a week. He gazed into his love's eyes.

"Ichigo, if anyone should be apologizing, it's me."

The young man blinked a couple of times. "W-What?"

"I'm sorry for what I've done to you. It was my fault. I shouldn't have said what I did."

"But I was the one -"

"You caused nothing," Uryuu interjected quickly, "It was my fault. I can't even remember what the argument was about."

"N-Neither can I."

"I'm sorry for what I did to you… I'm so sorry. And I hope that you will take me back."

Hesitantly, the carrot top moved from the couch to the floor. He placed a hand on the other's chilled cheek, causing Ishida to move toward the warmth of the other's palm. Slowly, the shinigami started to lean toward the archer.

Uryuu felt the hot breath caress his flesh. He moved toward the other, slowly wrapping his arms around him. Their foreheads touched and they just sat there for a moment. Soon enough though, Ichigo closed the small distance between them even more.

Their lips brushed softly. Within moments the two lovers had returned to each other, kissing as though the fight had never happened. From the doorway to the den three pairs of eyes watched, smiles seen in each of them.

ISICISICISIC** End** CISICISICISI

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Thank you for reading the story!! Hope you liked it!!! 

Please review!!!


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